May full moon is over

Well,  it was said that after the May full moon we could start the garden...... mine was started indoors and Jim started some of his indoors..... now he's out there roto-tilling and planting.... what a beautiful day here.... I've been inside most of the day painting and doing other things.... Jim's smarter than me... he's outside working in his garden :-)
everyone should plant something... even if it's just one plant by the back door.

Wildfowers

Martha Washington's grandfather told her not to plant her garden until after the full moon in May ..... that happened a couple days ago so it is time to plant your garden now.... we think :-)   Mine is started indoors in the kitchen. (this is a contemporary Martha Washington .... she lives in Carson Valley)
No one told the wildflowers outside so they just shot up..... with their smiling faces and bright clothes... take a look...
First thing in the morning how about a great big smile!

 
 

Cowboys but no Indians today

We like indians too... just don't have one handy to paint. Today we have one of our favorite cowboys .... perhaps he should view this at the end of the day after the 6-pak :-)
this is oil on 11x14 canvas board ... it may not be finished but it is on the dispaly easel for now ... got something else on the working easel.

Here's a thought...  we turn to Chogyam Trungpa,


who teaches:



No one can turn you completely upside down

and inside out. You must accept yourself as

you are, instead of as you would like to be,

which means giving up self-deception and

wishful thinking.



During the coming week, work on accepting yourself (and the time and space you're currently living in) as you are and as it is, warts and all.

Hey... if we think like that this picture may "fly" :-)

Thanks

For the past few days many friends and family have sent me well wishes and I do appreciate it very much. Nothing warms the heart more than family and friends dropping in and saying "howdy" .... calling on the telephone and emailing is "dropping in" too.

People keep sending me all this interesting stuff about "old" folks ... what are they trying to say? ... but some of it is really, really good stuff ... check this out

http://www.slideshare.net/PowerLegacy.Com/philosophy-for-old-age-george-carlin-3277620

the pictures are absolutely fantastic.

.......then after you stop laughing at the pictures I have sent with the last couple blogs you can go to

http://www.thejokeyard.com/

and read some of the old folks jokes that were sent to me :-)

Laugh.

It's very good for you.

A word from Unocchio

Happy Monday.. or Tuesday... or Wednesday ... or whatever day it happens to be!



The other day I had lunch with some friends...all in all, a pleasant bunch.


When the menus were presented, the other guys ordered salads, sandwiches, and soups, except for me, I said, "Ice Cream, please. Two scoops, chocolate.


My friends could not believe their ears , and sat there aghast. Is this really him?

"Along with heated apple pie," I added, completely unabashed.




They tried to act quite nonchalant, as if people did this all the time.. .but when our orders were brought out, they did not seem to enjoy theirs as much as I enjoyed mine.




They couldn't take their eyes off me as my pie a-la-mode went down. The other guys couldn't believe it. They ate their lunches silently and grinned.

The next time Jim went out to eat, he called and invited me. Jim lunched on white meat tuna. I ordered a parfait. Jim smiled.

I asked if I amused him
He answered, "Yes, you do, but also you confuse me.

How come you order rich desserts, while I feel I must be sensible? I laughed and said "I'm tasting all that is Possible.

I try to eat the food I need, and do the things I should..... but life's so short, my friend, I hate missing out on something good.


This year I realized how old I was... grinning from ear to ear. I haven't been this old before."
"So, before I die, I've got to try those things that for years I had ignored.
I haven't smelled all the flowers yet. There are too many trout streams I haven’t fished. There's more fudge sundaes to wolf down …. kites to be flown overhead …paintings to be painted...pictures to be taken on my digital SLR camera.

There are too many trails I have not hiked ….beaches I have not waded. I've not laughed at all the jokes. I've missed a lot of sporting events and potato chips and Hebrew National hotdogs along with a cold beer.


I want to wade again in water and feel ocean spray on my face. I want to sit in a field of clover and be thankful I am able to enjoy nature in all it's beauty.

I want almond butter every day spread on my morning sprouted grain toast. I want un-timed long distance calls to the folks I love the most.


I haven't cried at all the movies yet, or walked in the morning rain. I need to feel wind on my face. I want to be in love again.


So, if I choose to have dessert, instead of having dinner, then should I die before night fall, I'd say I died a winner, because I missed out on nothing. I filled my heart's desire. I had that final chocolate mousse before my life expired.."

This is my gift to you - We need an annual Friends Day!

Live well, love much & laugh often - Be happy. 

Be mindful that happiness isn't based on possessions, power, or prestige, but on relationships with people we like and respect. Remember that while money talks,  CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM SINGS!

3 cheers for geezers and geezerettes

Always a big fan of seniors who are still out there working and serving here is a blog dedicated to all of them even tho only a few are listed herein... I may add more later.... the following is courtesy of CNN Money.com ... an article by Aaron smith. If you don't go to CNN Money .com you should go there for some really interesting news.
Even tho I may look like one of these folks I am not there yet... look at the ages... notice how good they look .... AND they are still out on the job. Congrats to all of them.. I will be trying my best to follow their good example.
Enjoy your work today.... enjoy your work every day..... you could be working until you are 100

I'll take a break now and go feed the chickens ... it's a beautiful sunny day out there.

Helen Hansen, 92Office worker

Stanton, Michigan



"I was Rosie the riveter, on the center wing of the bombers," Hanson says, because she assembled B-24s during World War II.



She remembers when federal agents "with black hats" took away one of her co-workers. "They motioned for her to come down [from the airplane] and that was the last time you saw her," she says. "Come to find out that little gal was a Russian spy, and she was riveting in the places she wasn't supposed to."



Hansen later worked at a refrigerator factory, various restaurants, bars, a dry cleaner, a hotel and a thrift store. "I guess I've done just about everything," she says. "It seems like I've always been lucky getting jobs." Three years after retiring as a city clerk, the non-profit group Experience Works, which finds jobs for elderly people, placed her as an office worker for the Michigan Department of Human Services. "I've got to keep going," she says. "I don't want to retire."



Photo: Courtesy of Michigan Dept. of Human Services

 

Tao Porchon-Lynch, 91Yoga instructor

White Plains, New York



Tao Porchon-Lynch learned yoga while growing up in India, in the former French colony of Pondicherry, but she didn't become an instructor until half a century later.



For much of her career, she danced, modeled and acted in India, France, England and California. She appeared in Hollywood movies and on television before landing a job with UniTel in the 1960s, establishing TV stations in India. "I was playing with life," she says. "There was so much to do and so little time to do it."



Porchon-Lynch has taught yoga since the 1970s and certified 400 other teachers. Until recently, she was able to suspend herself by her hands in the full-lotus and peacock positions before she broke her wrist. She's still a competitive ballroom dancer, despite undergoing hip replacement five years ago. "I'm not going to give up," Porchon-Lynch says. "I'm going to dance and do yoga for as long as I live."

Chloe Grimm, 94Office worker

Anaconda, Montana



Florence "Chloe" Grimm, former owner of a real estate agency, re-entered the work force six years ago after 17 years of retirement. "I didn't want that rocking chair to get me," she says. Experience Works placed her in a part-time office job at the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, partly to supplement her social security checks.



Grimm admits that it's not always easy to get up for work, though it pays off. "There are days when that alarm goes off I could throw it out the window," she says. "But when I get up and dressed and ready to go, I feel pretty good. Maybe I'm crazy or something, but I do like coming to work. I'll probably continue working until my health fails, until I have to quit."



She spends most of her free time playing golf or performing with a lip sync group called the Strikettes.



Photo: Courtesy of Montana Health and Human Services

Jack Borden, 101Attorney

Weatherton, Texas



Jack Borden was born on a Texas farm that's now at the bottom of a man-made lake. He grew up in a log cabin without electricity and started working corn and cotton fields when he was five. At age 11, he was leading a horse-drawn grain binder to cut wheat.



Borden has been a lawyer since 1936 and continues to work full-time at his firm. He was also a mayor, a district attorney and an FBI agent. He continues to chew tobacco, a lifelong vice. "I've got a mouthful now," he noted during a recent interview. He keeps an antique spittoon by his desk and has more of them piled in the corner of his office. Borden says he "never worried about dying" and has no plans to call it quits.



"When the gals come into the office and I've got my head down on the desk, and I ain't moving, then that's when I'll retire," he says.



Photo: Rose Page

Mildred Heath, 102Reporter

Overton, Nebraska



Mildred Heath started working at her hometown newspaper when she was 15, toiling over a hot-metal linotype machine with her boyfriend. She married him a few years later in 1929, and they co-founded a business that eventually expanded to three papers.



She has since passed that business on to her three children, though she outlived them all, as well as her husband. The business was recently sold, but she still reports for one of those papers, the Beacon-Observer.



"If I get news, I turn it in," Heath says, commuting the short distance to her office in an electric wheelchair. Two years ago, when she was a spry 100, Experience Works awarded her the title of "America's Oldest Worker." She says that being a centenarian journalist has one drawback when it comes to sources: "The people I knew are all dead."



Photo: Allen Krohn

It's a Peaceful Day in the Valley

Yesterday I spent some time hanging paintings on the wall while I watched some painting videos ... actually I watched the videos while I put screw eyes and "D" rings on the backs of the frames. today I went back to painting. I have a continual bunch of work in progress that I dab away at but usually start a new one. I try to do a new painting every day. Here is today's effort...11x14 oil on canvas board. .... "Oly at the end of the work day"
Thanks for visiting my blog. If you have not signed on as a follower, please do.... I would enjoy having you as a regular visitor.

May it snow in May

It's always such a joy to wake up and look out the window to a winter wonderland!.... A fireplace might add a little atmosphere ot it ... maybe I'll paint a big picture of one :-)
This is a 12 x 16 oil on canvas board .... not necessarily gallery material but it's special to me because I think I captured Baron in this little painting. Sometimes it is a little challenging to capture a likeness on a smaller scale so the mood and atmosphere have to carry more of the load. Painting inside sure is fun when winter is outside.
At 6 am I was up and at it.... outside stomping around in the fresh fallen snow..... the sun makes long shadows early in the morning and lights up everything a little differently ... notice how the sun shines thru the trees and back-lights the snow covered leaves ..... also, there seem to be birds out there early in the day that do not hang around till day. Check it out...... this little guy dropped in, hopped around the snow a little then took off. There were some black birds on the fence.... and the chickens were up. Chickens always get up early... that's because they want to eat :-)
You have a good day .... and ask Big Al where's all that hupla in his report :-)

On a frosty morn in May

"Twas on a frosty morn in May" ..... yup.... today was a frosty morn in late May ..... a beautifyl day ... did you every get down close and take a look at frosty grass?.... here's your chance ... spectacular to say the least!
The chickens did not mind at all .... the minute they heard me open the door they were on the way .. hey...it's eatin' time.
Most of the day we had sunshine... that's what we love about it here..... then about 6-ish... whe I wasn't looking it began to snow!.... by 7=ish there was several inches on the ground... could be at least 3 inches out there as we speak.
We love variety. Snow near the end of May is variety :-)
Today Mom had her 98th birthday celebration...went out to dinner and had a cake with 98 candles which she said she blew out.... I believe it... she does have lung power :-) ..... mmaybe she really didn't have 98 candles but there was at least one that she blew out ... most of the frosting landed in Ron's face..... so now she begins year 99....hooray for her... I hope she passed on some of those genes to me.
Maybe I'll go out and make a snow man.... or snow chicken....I hope it melts by noon tomorrow...we already stowed away the snow shovel

Game Preserve

A few weeks ago a dog  (we now think) came by and ate or chased off the mother goose leaving her nest full of eggs deserted. Jim and Vickie rescued the eggs and set them in a box to incubate. They are now hatching ... check it out.... the first gossling is now living with a couple of wild ducklings we rescued. Everyone is happy and doing fine. the indoor dogs do not seem to mind the newcomers... in fact, the chihuahua even gave the ducklings a little kiss on the beak :-)
We are not sure if all the eggs will hatch... if they do we are going to have lots of birds around here.

Another cold snap is blowing in... we may get a little frost within the next few days which means the lilacs and apple trees will be losing their blossoms .

Who knows?

Today's sketch is 11x14 oil on canvas board. this is one of our fellow artists in the CVAA. We never know who is going to show up on this blog .... or on the sketch board..... but it's always fun.
You have a little fun today too ..... enjoy your life.

Another day on the farm

It might be just another day on the farm but there is not "just another day on the farm". There is always something exciting happening out here. First up in the foto line-up is Savanah..... she just was not going to eat that :-) ... luckily I was there to capture the moment and the mood. Irreplaceable. I was digging out the old paintings because I have a shipment of frames coming. The walls will be covered here in the ol' cabin.
Outside, while feeding the chickens, I noticed that the first mature crop of the season is already going to seed out there in the pasture. Dandelions are so bright and cheery. I love dandelions ... and I love blowing those parachutes into the wind too :-)
So now to the main story of the day..... the mother duck disappeared and left seven little duckings alone on the pond to fend for themselves. Cute, aren't they?  The pond will dry up as the Summer progresses. Well with the hawks, owls, cats, bobcats, coyotes, bears and who know what else on the prowl out here we thought they needed to be rescued so we rounded them up and made them a new home.... then bought 50 # of ducking feed for them. They are very soft and fuzzy. Who knows if those Mallards will stay with us or take off someday. Right now we don't know if they will chose for their mama Jim, Vickie or one of the chickens :-)
It's a great day out there... poke your head out the window and take a look.

Off to the Dentist

On Thursday the 13th I left for California for a few days. It was time to visit my long time friend, Brad... who happens to be my dentist of choice. We have been doing this for many, many years... over 30. It is always a good experience. He is a great dentist and a great friend. Our visits are pleasant ones. Of course over there in California low lands Spring is more at hand than it is here in the high desert... and especially here a little higher and closer to the High Sierras. One of the first things I do when I run down there is smell the flowers. I always love the flowers. First up on the picture posts, then, will be a couple flowers for you to enjoy too.

I always shoot pictures when I ride with someone..... sometimes I shoot pictures while I drive.... ahhhh, not recomended... don't try this on your own. You will notice that the pictures are not the best.... they were quick and dirty shots and you will not see other vehicles moving along the highway because I do it while alone. I never get tired of driving thru the High Sierras. It is always spectacular.

Coming off the mountain and down ther other side this time of year is also very rewarding. The rolling hills of California are beautiful...... AND..... for a couple of weeks at least during the Spring they are actually green along with the flowering trees.

Finally we get to Brad's house.... about 2 1/2 hours. Brad actually designed his house, drew up the plans and acted as the contractor while still practicing dentiry at full speed ahead. Nice neighborhood.... it's right on the airport... his plane is parked in his garage and he taxies right down the street to the runway.

After we finished working and visiting I left for Ikea... the giant furniture store. The shelves I bought come knocked down in a flat box ... a fairly heavy flat box.... these I had to handle very carefully. Assembly was not too bad at all. In the first picture you will notice that Unocchio had to tap in all those dowels with a small hammer. I was not sure how many times I would miss .... but... believe it or not, I did not miss and do not have a bunch of smashed digets :-)

I assembled 4 units. ... one I installed in the main room next to my computer table. There will be a little re-arranging going on here from time to time until I get my space a little more efficient.

That's it for today....... you arrange to have yourself a great week..... slow down... smell the flowers.

Is it Bear Season/

Big John was kind enough to send me this foto taken in his back yard .... it was 2 weeks ago when this was taken and look at that guy...... he looks friendly enough...buttttttt

We're hoping our visitor goes in the trap so Fish and Game can take him to the wilderness .... I suggest hauling him up to Yellowstone :-)

Hikin' the perimeter

What a gorgeous day today...... and what a pleasure to get outside.  After painting for a while Jim and I wandered along some of the fence lines checking out where Mr Bear had stepped on the wire fence and made his way into our hide-a-way... at least 6 places we could verify..... evidently he comes more often than he tells us.

11x14 oil on canvas board...... maybe I am finished with it... maybe not..... this is one afternnon in Carson Valley looking off  towards Jobe's Peak.... the sun is dipping down behind the mountains now and casting longer shadows... it drops fast about this time so pretty soon it will set and darkness will set in. I love that valley.

Too many people compained when they heard I was going to set a "rope-bent tree trap" for the bear so they brought this contraption over today..... sure looks good to me.... there is a dead goat in there and some honey to lure him in....... if that doesn't work we place watermelon in there.... that'll git im for sure. I am told when that door slams shut it sounds like a small cannon going off.... Jim says it'll wake up everyone in the neighborhood.... I can't wait to shoot some pictures of that guy.... my camera sits ready to go.    Dang... I'm gonna miss ropin im :-)   Sounded exciting.

You have an exciting evening too.

Onion Soup?

6x8 Oil on Canvas Panel

Today is 10 May... pretty cold outside.. the snow froze on the blades of grass standing straight up in the pasture. Must be that global warming stuff somebody keeps talkin' about :-)

Well, other than going out to feed the chickens I simply stayed inside painting and watching the beautiful scenery out the window... oh, yes.... Jones College radio was playing some happy tunes. this radio station is in Jacksonville Florida..... they announce the weather and temperature every now and then.... today it was 85 degrees and a sunny day..... hey, that seems better than having the Reno station play music which may or may not be pleasant and announcing every now and then that it is 24 degrees :-)

There seems to be a few extra onions around here.... maybe I should make onion soup.... do we make onion soup with red onions?

Well for now they go in my salad tonight.

You have a good evening.

Art Show at the Sparks Marina

Yesterday was a fine day with a few fluffy white clouds scattered here and there across a gorgeous blue sky and we were hoping today would be very similar. Sunday started off cool and very still. the old wind indicator was not spinning. Calmness reigned. Looking south there were clouds..... on the top of the mountain a shower poured. I had scheduled the art show at the Sparks Marina. Looking northward there were spots of blue sky here and there. OK. Going to the art show.

This yesterday...... in hopes for today too

Heading east on I-80 we see Sparks .... and the sky seems to be changing

Show had set up early in the morning... the Art in Bloom show on Mother's Day is in full bloom.... it is a one day show

Entering the show was no problem..... the crowd's were thin.... and most were down by the live music tent drinking hot coffee and humming.....

you are seeing no closeup pictures of the tents and art works because it was but minutes when the wind picked up to about 60 mph.... art work started flying out of the tents... not exactly what the vendors wanted.. it was the wind, not the buyers ..... a few sprinkles started..... the wind picked up ... the vendors started quickly folding up and we were all out of there. Thus ended the Art in Bloom Mother's Day show. 3 hours later the sun was in the sky again and the day ended fine.

Here's hoping your day ended fine.